Needle infusion and extraction apparatus for administering or draining fluids from medical patients have been known for years. An ever present danger to medical personnel using needles which have been inserted in patients is the possibility that after a needle has been contaminated by contact with a patient's tissue and fluids, the needle will inject harmful material into another person as a result of an inadvertent breaking of that second person's skin by the contaminated point of the needle. The spreading of fatal hepatitis to medical personnel by inadvertent pricking of their skin with contaminated needles is a well known hazard. Another fatal disease which can be spread by pricking with contaminated needles is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
The present invention avoids the spreading of diseases through inadvertent skin pricking with contaminated needles by providing a means and method for withdrawing a needle into a convenient sheath, in the form of an external housing, which covers the entire length of the needle. The contaminated needle can then be safely handled and disposed.